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People interested in learning about beekeeping are invited to attend upcoming classes sponsored by the Clarks Hill Beekeepers Association.

“Bees are beneficial to the growth of fruits and vegetables,” said Berman Kent, president of the association. “Farmers depend on bees to pollinate crops and a good byproduct is honey. Hobby beekeepers keep bees for the honey. Commercial beekeepers generally keep bees to pollinate crops.”

Bees are often leased to farmers for the purpose of pollination, Kent said.

What is causing the small mounds seen in the picture at right? Is it moles? Mole crickets? Or something else? The little mounds are actually earthworm castings. Recent rains have been helped plants stressed by drought, but more soil moisture and cool temperatures increased earthworm activity.

The Morrisons and Taylors don’t know each other, but they share a similar tale.

It’s a story of countless hours completing paperwork, preparing for home studies and going through background and medical checks. For these two families, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because both hope to bring their adopted daughters home by year’s end.

Students living in Columbia County have until Jan. 31 to request a permissive transfer to one of eight county schools for the 2013-2014 school year.

Of the 433 permissive transfers available to county students, Harlem High School has the most spaces at 214, followed by Riverside Elementary School with 53 spots and North Columbia Elementary School with 47 openings, according to a Columbia County school system report.

Doctors and Uni­versity hospitals are seeking state permission to build a free-standing emergency de­partment in Columbia Coun­ty, the state’s largest county without one, officials said.

Doctors Hospital is proposing a $9.8 million, 12-bed facility with a room to handle trauma on North Belair Road across from Marshall Square, while University is proposing a $9.67 million plan for an 18-bed facility with five trauma rooms on its Evans campus off North Belair Road.

“I was in Hampton, S.C., last night, and on the first row, there were three generations of a family – children, parents and grandparents,” said Gregory, via telephone Friday.

Gregory, who has been performing clean family humor for more than 30 years and has made numerous Augusta appearances since 1985, will make his Columbia County debut at 7:15 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Jabez Sanford Hardin Performing Arts Center at the Columbia County Library in Evans.

U.S. Rep. John Barrow, who famously brandished firearms in a re-election campaign ad last fall, hasn’t changed his perspective on gun control issues stirring renewed debate in Washington.

“No new laws will have a big chance of passing in the House,” the 12th District Democratic representative predicted during a town hall meeting with Columbia County constituents Monday at the Columbia County Courthouse in Appling.